Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 0 1 6 4 POTATO GROWER 4 POTATO GROWER RRV Fresh Growers Suffer Heavy Losses by Ted Kreis, NPPGA Marketing and Communications Director Favorable planting conditions and good weather got potatoes in the northern Red River Valley off to a great start but the National Weather Service was saying the area was in a near-drought. Then on May 22nd and May 23rd the Grafton area got a nice shot of rain totaling well over an inch according to the NDAWN station 11 miles east of Grafton. That was just what was needed to get it started. But then it rained on seven of the next nine days bringing the 11 day total to five inches. Some growers closer to Grafton reported over eight inches. By this time the drought was considered broken and concerns quickly turned from drought to saturation. Those concerns were well founded. By August 1, the Grafton NDAWN sta- tion had recorded nearly 20 inches of rain for the previous 90 days. Further north things were a bit bet- ter. The St. Thomas NDAWN station had recorded “just” 12.45 inches in the same three month period. But on July 19th a severe storm which included high winds and baseball size hail cut a wide swath from near the Cavalier Air Station to seven miles north of Grafton near Auburn where some of the best potato ground in the region lies. Many crops (not just potatoes) in the storm path were shredded. The city of Crystal which was in the path was pounded by three inch hail and sustained major property damage. By this time we all knew crop losses would be heavy. According to an informal survey of wash plants con- ducted the second week in August, roughly one-third, or up to 7,800 acres of the Red River Valley fresh market potatoes will be lost to excessive rain and storm damage in northeast North Dakota. Growers and shippers are also very concerned that lenticels damage will add to those losses. Potatoes growing in saturated soil are very susceptible according to North Dakota State and University of Minnesota Potato Extension Agronomist Andy Robinson. Robinson says potatoes sitting in wet ground open up their pores searching for oxygen, only to become more exposed to damaging bacteria and disease. Damage was already evident on June 17th as shown in this photo taken by TJ Hall just west of Grafton, looking to the southwest. This field in southern Pembina County took a double hit from torrential rain and hail on July 19th.